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KU Summer Institute—Stats Camps
Five-day Course • June 2–6, 2008 • Lawrence, Kansas
Presented by the Quantitative Psychology Training Program of the Department of Psychology at the University of Kansas
This institute on the principles of structural equation modeling, sponsored by the University of Kansas Research Design and Analysis Unit, is an intensive short course in the fundamentals of covariance structure analysis.
The course will be a series of lectures and computer workshops introducing participants to the history of structural modeling and providing training in applications of structural modeling, including confirmatory factor analysis, multiple-group comparisons, factorial invariance, basics of longitudinal and latent growth curve analysis, as well as extended applications such as hierarchical and multitrait-multimethod decompositions.
Todd D. Little of the University of Kansas Department of Psychology and the Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies leads the course. Little is known internationally for his ability to communicate often-complicated SEM material to audiences at all levels of experience and background. Noel A. Card is the co-instructor for the course. Card has received many accolades for his skills at teaching and consulting about SEM issues and concepts.
The five-day institute sessions will be Monday – Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day. There also will be an optional consultation session from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings.
"The summer institute provides an excellent mix of introductory and advanced topics. Recent developments were made accessible along with the classic basics of SEM. The faculty and staff brought great energy, intelligence, and enthusiasm for SEM to the institute. They are very knowledgeable, friendly, and available, and they put great effort in to engaging all the participants. For me the institute was a delightful week filled with progress in conceptual knowledge and procedural skill. I will strongly recommend it to colleagues."— Allan R. Harkness, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, The University of Tulsa
The institute on Structural Equation Modeling: Foundations and Extended Applications will enable participants to:
"Dr. Little has a remarkable ability of presenting the core and more advanced features of SEM in a manner that allows one to maximize the absorption of the content."—Brian Thomas, Graduate Student, Georgia Tech University
"The summer institute helped me understand complex statistical procedures that used to confuse me. Dr. Little used analogies and real-world examples to illuminate the technique of structural equation modeling. I also learned about useful tricks of the trade and new, state-of-the-art variants of SEM."—Abby Heckman, Graduate Student, Georgia Tech University
If you need to analyze the covariance structure of multivariate data and have a basic statistical background, this course is for you. You should have a good working knowledge of the principles and practice of multiple regression and elementary statistical inference. You do not need to know matrix algebra, calculus, or likelihood theory, although that knowledge would be beneficial.
Participants from a variety of fields, including sociology, psychology, education, human development, marketing, business, biology, medicine, political science, and communication, will benefit from the course.
The course will emphasize LISREL 8.8x as well as SAS®. Some assistance will be available for questions related to other structural modeling packages. No previous knowledge of LISREL is assumed. Furthermore, nearly all the techniques taught in the course can be translated fairly easily to most other packages.
"This one-week intensive course in SEM offers an excellent overview of the principles & applications of SEM. The material is presented in an easy, digestible format. Additionally, the course is individually meaningful in that Dr. Little and Dr. Card offer time to meet on individual projects."—Laura E. Dreer, Ph.D., Post-doctoral Research Associate, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Todd D. Little, Ph.D., is associate professor of quantitative psychology at the University of Kansas and director of the KU Research Design and Analysis Unit. He holds a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of California-Riverside.
Noel A. Card, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in Family Studies and Human Development at the University of Arizona. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from St. John's University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in quantitative and developmental psychology at the University of Kansas. Noel has received many accolades for his skills at teaching and consulting on SEM issues and concepts, and has worked extensively in applying SEM to longitudinal and dyadic data.
"This course was the most useful statistical training course I've ever had! The instructors are down to earth and practical in their teaching style and the classroom environment was relaxed and non-threatening, which is necessary for such a potentially daunting topic. In particular, the one-on-one private consultation with my own data was invaluable."—Anonymous comment from the participant satisfaction survey.
Participants should bring a laptop computer. Before arriving for the summer institute, participants should either acquire the one-year rental version of LISREL 8.8x or download the fully functional 15-day trial version of LISREL 8.8x for use during the institute. We have a special arrangement with e-academy that gives participants a reduced rate on the one-year rental version. Specific instructions on how to receive the discount will be sent to all registered participants approximately three weeks prior to the start of the institute. If you chose to download the trial version, please note that it is different from the free student version downloadable directly through Scientific Software (SSI). The student version is too limited for the examples presented in the institute. We strongly recommend going with the one-year, renewable rental version.
In addition to a course packet, you will receive a CD containing all course materials, including PowerPoint slides, LISREL scripts, output files, relevant supporting documentation, and recommended readings.
Day 1: Monday, June 2, 2008 | |
| 9:00–9:30 | Welcome and introductions |
| 9:30–10:30 | SEM: Some history and philosophy of science |
| 10:30–12:00 | Psychometric principles as they relate to SEM |
| 12:00–1:00 | Lunch (provided) |
| 1:00–2:30 | Defining constructs |
| 2:30–4:00 | Identification |
| 4:00–5:00 | LISREL examples of identification and scale setting |
| 6:00 | Dinner at the Hawley/Little home (provided). |
Day 2: Tuesday, June 3, 2008 | |
| 9:00–10:30 | Confirmatory Factor Analysis I–Introduction to CFA |
| 10:30–12:00 | Parcels and parceling |
| 12:00–1:30 | Lunch (on own) |
| 1:30–3:00 | Confirmatory Factor Analysis II–Comparing models; fit indices |
| 3:00–4:30 | Missing data and power |
| 4:30–5:00 | Homework packet |
| 6:30–8:00 | Optional evening session for homework and learning LISREL |
Day 3: Wednesday, June 4, 2008 | |
| 9:00–10:30 | Multiple-group CFA–Testing for configural and weak invariance |
| 10:30–12:00 | Multiple-group CFA–Testing for strong (but not strict) invariance |
| 12:00–1:00 | Lunch (provided) |
| 1:00–3:00 | Multiple-group CFA–Testing and comparing latent means, variances, and covariances/correlations |
| 3:00–5:00 | Longitudinal CFA–Testing invariance over time |
| 6:30–8:00 | Optional evening session for homework or personal data analysis projects |
Day 4: Thursday, June 5, 2008 | |
| 9:00–10:30 | Longitudinal SEM–examining predictive relations over time |
| 10:30–12:00 | Latent regression models and structural equations |
| 12:00–1:30 | Lunch (on own) |
| 1:30–2:30 | Testing Mediation and moderation |
| 2:30–5:00 | Multitrait, multimethod (MTMM) models |
| 6:30–8:00 | Optional evening session for homework or personal data analysis projects |
Day 5: Friday, June 6, 2008 | |
| 9:00–10:00 | Hierarchical structural models |
| 10:00–11:30 | Basic of Growth Curve modeling |
| 11:30–12:30 | Writing results; wrap up and cautions |
| 12:30–1:30 | Lunch (provided) |
| 1:00–5:00 | Individual consultation on data analysis projects |
"The instructor's clear and practical presentation of material that was once intimidating to me has uncovered a powerful analytic tool. I feel comfortable that I've learned the correct application of SEM from experts in the field. At the same time, I was introduced to cutting edge techniques and I understand the advantages of their use."—Jenny Tehan, Graduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology
"I am walking away from this training with far more confidence in my SEM skills than I honestly anticipated. I also feel like my view of research in general has been greatly expanded. As someone who teaches research and statistics at the graduate level, I wish I had done this course years ago."—Anonymous comment from the participant satisfaction survey
For information on course content, contact Noel A. Card ncard@email.arizona.edu or Todd D. Little yhat@ku.edu.
"I would certainly recommend the workshop. In particular, I would recommend the workshop to people in mid-career who may not have had formal or graduate instruction in these methods but who regularly confront SEM in their reading, reviewing, and collaborations with other researchers. The instructors review the surprising scope and flexibility of these methods, as well as the numerous analytic problems and challenges that can be met with these techniques. One can appreciate why SEM has seen such wide adoption. At the same time, the instructors were frank about the complexity and potential disadvantages of SEM applications. In all, this workshop helped me not only to catch up with the state of the art, but it has also stretched my imagination for research design."—David J. Ekerdt, Interim Director , Gerontology Center, University of Kansas
"The RDA summer institute on SEM is a MUST for both graduate students and social scientists to familiarize with the theory and applications of SEM. This is one of the best if not even BEST, introductory SEM learning experiences. The quality of each session was wrapped in an excellent mix of breadth and depth of information. The sessions were very informal and comfortable which lead to an enhanced SEM learning experience. Compared to several other SEM workshops that I previously participated in, RDA's was the BEST introduction. Thank you for this very well organized workshop."—Dan Grigororrci, IBM Research Fellow, Pennsylvania State University
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